Disclosed herein are phase change inks containing isocyanate-based curable compounds. More specifically, disclosed herein are phase change inks containing isocyanate-based curable amides, ureas, urethanes, urea/urethanes, amide/urethanes, and the like. One embodiment is directed to a phase change ink comprising a colorant, an initiator, and a phase change ink carrier, said carrier comprising (A) a compound which is the reaction product of a mixture comprising (1) an isocyanate; and (2) a component comprising (a) an alcohol having at least one ethylenic unsaturation; (b) an amine having at least one ethylenic unsaturation; (c) an acid having at least one ethylenic unsaturation; or (d) mixtures thereof, (B) a phase change inducing component, said phase change inducing component containing at least one hydroxyl group, said phase change inducing component having a melting point of about 40° C. or higher, and (C) an optional curable viscosity modifying ester, said ink being curable upon exposure to ultraviolet radiation.
In general, phase change inks (sometimes referred to as “hot melt inks”) are in the solid phase at ambient temperature, but exist in the liquid phase at the elevated operating temperature of an ink jet printing device. At the jet operating temperature, droplets of liquid ink are ejected from the printing device and, when the ink droplets contact the surface of the recording substrate, either directly or via an intermediate heated transfer belt or drum, they quickly solidify to form a predetermined pattern of solidified ink drops. Phase change inks have also been used in other printing technologies, such as gravure printing, as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,879 and German Patent Publications DE 4205636AL and DE 4205713AL, the disclosures of each of which are totally incorporated herein by reference.
Phase change inks for color printing typically comprise a phase change ink carrier composition which is combined with a phase change ink compatible colorant. In a specific embodiment, a series of colored phase change inks can be formed by combining ink carrier compositions with compatible subtractive primary colorants. The subtractive primary colored phase change inks can comprise four component dyes, namely, cyan, magenta, yellow and black, although the inks are not limited to these four colors. These subtractive primary colored inks can be formed by using a single dye or a mixture of dyes. For example, magenta can be obtained by using a mixture of Solvent Red Dyes or a composite black can be obtained by mixing several dyes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,560, U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,761, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,852, the disclosures of each of which are totally incorporated herein by reference, teach that the subtractive primary colorants employed can comprise dyes from the classes of Color Index (C.I.) Solvent Dyes, Disperse Dyes, modified Acid and Direct Dyes, and Basic Dyes. The colorants can also include pigments, as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,335, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,022, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses the use of a specific class of polymeric dyes in phase change ink compositions.
Phase change inks have also been used for applications such as postal marking, industrial marking, and labelling.
Phase change inks are desirable for ink jet printers because they remain in a solid phase at room temperature during shipping, long term storage, and the like. In addition, the problems associated with nozzle clogging as a result of ink evaporation with liquid ink jet inks are largely eliminated, thereby improving the reliability of the ink jet printing. Further, in phase change ink jet printers wherein the ink droplets are applied directly onto the final recording substrate (for example, paper, transparency material, and the like), the droplets solidify immediately upon contact with the substrate, so that migration of ink along the printing medium is prevented and dot quality is improved.
Compositions suitable for use as phase change ink carrier compositions are known. Some representative examples of references disclosing such materials include U.S. Pat. No. 3,653,932, U.S. Pat. No. 4,390,369, U.S. Pat. No. 4,484,948, U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,956, U.S. Pat. No. 4,851,045, U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,560, U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,170, U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,120, U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,852, U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,879, European Patent Publication 0187352, European Patent Publication 0206286, German Patent Publication DE 4205636AL, German Patent Publication DE 4205713AL, and PCT Patent Application WO 94/04619, the disclosures of each of which are totally incorporated herein by reference. Suitable carrier materials can include paraffins, microcrystalline waxes, polyethylene waxes, ester waxes, fatty acids and other waxy materials, fatty amide containing materials, sulfonamide materials, resinous materials made from different natural sources (tall oil rosins and rosin esters, for example), and many synthetic resins, oligomers, polymers, and copolymers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,925 (Titterington et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses urethane resins made by reacting selected nucleophiles, including alcohols, with an isocyanate. The order of addition of the isocyanate and the different nucleophiles can tailor the distribution of mixed urethane molecules in the final resin product. The final resin product can be colored or uncolored and include a toughening agent. The isocyanate-derived resin materials are useful as ingredients as phase change ink carrier compositions used to make phase change ink jet inks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,839 (Titterington et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses colored waxes made by reacting selected nucleophiles, including alcohol containing colorants with an isocyanate. A phase change ink is made by blending the colored wax with a clear ink carrier composition. The clear ink carrier composition can be a fatty amide-based material and/or a combination of isocyanate-derived resins in which the order of addition of the isocyanate and the different nucleophiles can tailor the distribution of di-urethane, mixed urethane/urea, and/or di-urea molecules in the final resin product. The colored wax materials are useful as ingredients with phase change ink carrier compositions to make phase change ink jet inks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,830,942 (King et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses resins and waxes made by reacting selected nucleophiles, including alcohols and/or amines, with an isocyanate. The order of addition of the isocyanate and the different nucleophiles can tailor the distribution of diurethane, mixed urethane/urea, and/or di-urea molecules in the final resin product. The isocyanate-derived resin and wax materials are useful as ingredients as phase change ink carrier compositions used to make phase change ink jet inks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,827,918 (Titterington et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses resins and waxes made by reacting selected nucleophiles, including alcohols and/or amines, with an isocyanate. The order of addition of the isocyanate and the different nucleophiles can tailor the distribution of diurethane, mixed urethane/urea, and/or di-urea molecules in the final resin product. The isocyanate-derived resin and wax materials are useful as ingredients as phase change ink carrier compositions used to make phase change ink jet inks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,783,658 (Banning et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses resins and waxes made by reacting selected nucleophiles, including alcohols and/or amines, with an isocyanate. The order of addition of the isocyanate and the different nucleophiles can tailor the distribution of di-urethane, mixed urethane/urea, and/or di-urea molecules in the final resin product. The isocyanate-derived resin and wax materials are useful as ingredients as phase change ink carrier compositions used to make phase change ink jet inks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,966 (Bui et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses resins and waxes made by reacting selected nucleophiles, including alcohols and/or amines, with an isocyanate. The order of addition of the isocyanate and the different nucleophiles can tailor the distribution of di-urethane, mixed urethane/urea, and/or di-urea molecules in the final resin product. The isocyanate-derived resin and wax materials are useful as ingredients as phase change ink carrier compositions used to make phase change ink jet inks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,780,528 (Titterington et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses isocyanate-derived colored resins made by reacting an alcohol and/or amine, an isocyanate and a nucleophilic molecule containing a chromogen. The isocyanate-derived colored resins are useful as colorant materials in phase change ink compositions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,750,604 (Banning et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses resins and waxes made by reacting selected nucleophiles, including alcohols and/or amines, with an isocyanate. The order of addition of the isocyanate and the different nucleophiles can tailor the distribution of di-urethane, mixed urethane/urea, and/or di-urea molecules in the final resin product. The isocyanate-derived resin and wax materials are useful as ingredients as phase change ink carrier compositions used to make phase change ink jet inks.
PCT Patent Publication WO 94/14902 (Griffiths et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a material suitable for use in a hot melt ink, having a melting point of at least 65° C. and obtainable by reacting an aliphatic or aromatic diisocyanate with an at least stoichiometric amount of: (i) a monohydric alcohol component; or (ii) a monohydric alcohol component followed by another different monohydric alcohol component; or (iii) a monohydric alcohol component, followed by a dihydric alcohol component followed by a monohydric alcohol component; the monohydric alcohol component(s) comprising a monohydric aliphatic alcohol or an etherified or esterified dihydric aliphatic alcohol or dihydric polyalkylene glycol; as the dihydric alcohol component comprising a dihydric aliphatic alcohol or a dihydric polyalkylene glycol and being used in an amount of not more than 50 percent of the stoichiometric amount of hydroxyl groups required to react with the isocyanate groups on the diisocyanate.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,534,128 (Carlson et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses low viscosity, radiation curable urethane oligomers, preferably a radiation curable polyester urethane oligomer, that can be incorporated into radiation curable ink compositions. Preferred embodiments are suitable for ink jetting applications. The ink jettable embodiments are particularly well-suited for use in piezo ink jet printers. The viscosity characteristics of the compositions are such that conventional solvent is not required in order to satisfy the requisite low ink jet viscosity specifications. The oligomer generally is a reaction product of ingredients comprising an aliphatic polyisocyanate; and a radiation curable, polyester alcohol comprising one or more radiation curable moieties, one or more hydroxyl moieties, and one or more ester moieties.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,586,492 and PCT Patent Publication WO 99/54416 (Caiger et al.), the disclosures of each of which are totally incorporated herein by reference, disclose an ink-jet ink including an ink jet vehicle and a colorant. The vehicle includes at least 35 percent by weight radiation curable material, based on the total vehicle weight. The vehicle may but does not necessarily include a thickener. The vehicle is a paste or a solid at 20° C. and has a viscosity of less than 25 centipoise between 40° C. and 130° C.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,410,611 and European Patent Publication EP 0 878 482 (Sakurai et al.), the disclosures of each of which are totally incorporated herein by reference, disclose an active energy ray curable composition which can be cured in the absence of a photoinitiator and which can also be cured at practical light intensities and irradiating energy, and a method for curing the curable composition, in which the composition comprises a maleimide derivative represented by the formula
wherein m and n each represent an integer of 1 to 5, and the total of m and n is 6 or smaller, R11 and R12 each represent a linking group selected from the group consisting of (1) an alkylene group, (2) an alicyclic group, (3) an arylalkylene group, and (4) a cycloalkylalkyene group, G1 and G2 each represent an ester linkage selected from the group consisting of —COO— and —OCO—, R2 represents a linking chain having an average molecular weight of 100 to 100,000 selected from the group consisting of (A) a (poly)ether linking chain and (B) a (poly)ester linking chain, in which at least one organic group selected from the group consisting of (1) a straight chain alkylene group, (2) a branched alkylene group, (3) an alkylene group having a hydroxyl group, (4) an alicyclic group, (5) an aryl group, and (6) an arylalkylene group is connected via at least one linkage selected from the group consisting of (a) an ether linkage and (b) an ester linkage.
Japanese Patent Publication JP 6200204, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses a normally solid jet recording ink which can melt at a relatively low temperature and can cure immediately when irradiated with ultraviolet rays. The ink comprises a wax having a melting point of 40 to 70° C., a resin having a melting point of 40 to 70° C., a prepolymer, a monomer, a photopolymerization initiator, a dye, and a pigment. This ink is normally solid because it contains the above-specified wax. When the ultraviolet curable resin is irradiated with ultraviolet rays from an ultraviolet lamp, the ink can fix immediately and satisfactorily on plain paper or printing paper.
U.S. Patent Publication 2003/0232926 and European Patent Publication EP 1 362 901 (Nikolic et al.), the disclosures of each of which are totally incorporated herein by reference, disclose a film adhesive prepared from an adhesive composition comprising a polymer system, a film forming rubber compound, and curing agents for the polymeric system. The polymer system comprises a base polymer and electron donor and electron acceptor functionality.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,693,128 (Sacripante et al.), the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an ink composition comprising a colorant and a reversible crosslinked component vehicle obtained from the reaction product of an anhydride and an organoamine, which ink possesses a viscosity of from about 1 centipoise to about 25 centipoise at a temperature of from about 125° C. to about 185° C.
While known compositions and processes are suitable for their intended purposes, a need remains for improved phase change ink compositions. In addition, a need remains for phase change inks that produce images with improved scratch resistance. Further, a need remains for phase change inks that produce images with improved adhesion to substrates such as paper. Additionally, a need remains for ultraviolet curable compounds that are soluble in phase change ink carriers. There is also a need for ultraviolet curable compounds that can be incorporated into phase change ink carriers without adversely affecting the viscosity characteristics of the ink at desired jetting temperatures. In addition, there is a need for ultraviolet curable compounds that can be incorporated into phase change ink carriers without adversely affecting the melting point of the ink. Further, there is a need for ultraviolet curable phase change inks that can be used in ink jet printing processes wherein the ink is first jetted onto an intermediate transfer member and subsequently transferred from the transfer member to a final substrate such as paper or transparency material. Additionally, there is a need for ultraviolet curable phase change inks that can be used in ink jet printing processes wherein the ink is first jetted onto an intermediate transfer member and subsequently transferred from the transfer member to a final substrate such as paper or transparency material, wherein the intermediate transfer member is maintained at a temperature between the jetting temperature of the ink and the temperature of the final substrate. A need also remains for ultraviolet curable compounds that can be incorporated into phase change ink carriers to be used in printing processes using heated intermediate transfer members without adversely affecting the temperature at which the intermediate transfer member can effectively transfuse the image thereon to the final substrate. In addition, a need remains for curable phase change inks suitable for use in printing processes using heated intermediate transfer members wherein the ink has desirable viscosity values at the desired jetting temperatures. Further, a need remains for curable phase change inks suitable for use in printing processes using heated intermediate transfer members wherein the ink has desirable viscosity values at the desired intermediate transfer member temperatures. Additionally, a need remains for curable phase change inks suitable for use in printing processes using heated intermediate transfer members wherein the ink generates images with reduced showthrough. There is also a need for curable phase change inks suitable for use in printing processes using heated intermediate transfer members wherein the ink exhibits improved transfer and fusing from the intermediate transfer member to the final recording sheet. In addition, there is a need for curable phase change inks suitable for use in printing processes using heated intermediate transfer members wherein the ink exhibits improved robustness on the final recording sheet. Further, there is a need for phase change ink carrier components that are compatible with curable components therein.